Way back in the summer of 2013, SpaceX’s Elon Musk proposed a new transportation system that was equal parts awesome and insane: The Hyperloop. Unfortunately, that was the extent of Musk’s involvement: He gave us his plans in the form of a 57-page white paper, and then told the world to go ahead and build it. Now, a group of 100-odd engineers have banded together to try and actually create a Hyperloop — and they seem to be making pretty solid progress.

The longest, largest, and fastest maglev train in the world, situated at the Yamanashi test track in Japan, has restarted public testing. The test track has recently been extended to 42.8 kilometers (26.5 miles), allowing for a five-car prototype train to be routinely pulled at speeds of over 500 kph (310 mph). The train accelerates to max speed in under three miles, and according to the Japanese journalists the ride is very smooth. On the inside, anyway: Externally, according to one journalist, the L0 Series train created “a shock wave and a massive gust of wind … a deafening sound that made conversation all but impossible” as it passed by at 310 mph.

Late yesterday, Elon Musk finally unveiled the Hyperloop: A partially evacuated tube, where pods floating on air bearings and accelerated by linear motors will travel between San Francisco and Los Angeles in under 30 minutes, at around 760 mph — just under the speed of sound. While this sounds exciting, it’s important to bear in mind that the Hyperloop — if this hypothetical mode of transport is ever built — serves a very niche need and will probably have almost zero effect on 99% of the world’s population.

In a disappointing but not wholly unexpected twist, Elon Musk has admitted that his Hyperloop — a proposed mode of transport that will get passengers from LA to San Francisco in 30 minutes, traveling close to the speed of sound — is “extremely speculative.” Furthermore, Musk also says that he doesn’t intend to build the Hyperloop himself — rather, he will publicly share his plans on August 12, and then let other people build it.

In July of last year, Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk let slip that he was working on the Hyperloop — an ultra-fast mode of transportation that will get you from downtown Los Angeles to downtown San Francisco is under 30 minutes. This is a distance of roughly 340 miles, and would require speeds of around 700 mph — close to the speed of sound. Best yet, though, Musk says the Hyperloop will only cost around $6 billion — compared to the $60 billion of the proposed high-speed rail link connecting the two cities. So far, so good, except for one niggling issue: We have absolutely no idea how Musk will construct the Hyperloop.

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